Prague was an Eye-Opener

November 30, 2012

Psalm 44:1-8

Having returned from Prague, a beautiful city in the Czech Republic, an a very historical city, but a city that was under the control of Communism from 1948 to 1989, it becomes apparent that something has gone wrong.  (The Communist Party seized complete power after the coup d’état on February 25, 1948. This event marked the start of the Communist totalitarian regime that lasted until the Velvet Revolution of 1989. A second wave of nationalization took place and 95% of all privately owned companies became the property of the state. There were a number of political trials and executions in the following several years. The economy went steadily down under the socialist regime. Basic human rights were suppressed.)

What happens to a people who have been under the total control of the State that tells them there is no God, and that the State is to whom they should look for all that is good? The Prague Post published this headline on April 6, 2011, Study: Religion is dying out among Czechs, Religion will be 'nearly extinct' in Czech Republic by 2050.  The article went on to give this information: “It seems especially cold that religion's extinction would be predicted not by an impassioned atheist or a humanist weary of the aggression perpetrated in God's name, but by a trio of physicists and mathematicians who are altogether neutral about what their study suggests.”  In todays Prague 60% are atheist and 33% are Catholic, and 7% have no opinion on what they are.

If you have been noticing and I’m sure that most have, we are going the way of Prague, we as a people have chosen to elect a party that is socialist, and socialism has failed on all fronts and it matters not what name you give it.  The President of the United States of America ran for a second term and in one of his speeches’ he stated the following: “You didn’t build that” and he was referring to a person success.  He made that statement in an election campaign speech delivered on July 13, 2012 in Roanoke, Virginia. He went on to say the following: (“If you were successful, somebody along the line gave you some help. There was a great teacher somewhere in your life. Somebody helped to create this unbelievable American system that we have that allowed you to thrive. Somebody invested in roads and bridges. If you've got a business—you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen.”)  He said much more, but the theme was that without government it could not have happened.  That was and is the message of all Communist totalitarian regimes, and it seems to be President Barack Obama’s message.

Now this may come as a shock, but the President got close to telling the truth on this point.  Now do not burn your computers or send me hate mail until you read on down the page.  He was 100% correct that you needed help in building whatever, but he was totally 100% wrong on the source of your needs.  Now have I got you back?  It is God who has blessed you with the mental, the physical, the monetary, the desires, the drive and the knowledge to build your family, your business, your life an it is your choice on whether you acknowledge His hand or not.  When God is given the glory a nation prospers and when He is not they go into the hands of evil people who take freedom from them.

Look at what the Psalmist has said in Psalm 44:1-8, “O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old: you with your own hand drove out the nations, but them you planted; you afflicted the peoples, but them you set free; for not by their own sword did they win the land, nor did their own arm save them, but your right hand and your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them. You are my King, O God; ordain salvation for Jacob! Through you we push down our foes; through your name we tread down those who rise up against us. For not in my bow do I trust, nor can my sword save me. But you have saved us from our foes and have put to shame those who hate us. In God we have boasted continually, and we will give thanks to your name forever.” Selah

If you are one of the ones offended by the President’s remarks on July 13, 2012 in Roanoke, Virginia, was it because you believed it was by your ability, your energy, your mental abilities, your financial resources; who blessed you with those?   Whom are you acknowledging as your source?  My prayer is that you will give all praise and glory to the only God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ.  And my prayer is that you will teach your children and grandchildren these very profound truths.

Jan and I came back from this trip understanding that the world is looking for someone to step on the scene and rescue them, and all over there is unrest, wars and rumors of wars, if you are interested in what is coming, dust off your Bible and read Matthew 24 and II Timothy 3:1-5, it’s coming to America, and the world.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice 

 

 

A Christian should be in the Unbinding Business

John 11:44

“The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days, and his sister Martha told Jesus his body would have an odor if we move the stone that is covering the grave.  And no one who has heard the story or was there will ever forget those three words that Jesus spoke; “Lazarus come out.”  It matters not if you were an eyewitness or have been told the story, we now have evidence that Jesus has authority over death.  No other man has been given that authority, in no other religion has anyone claimed to raise the dead, and surely not someone who had been buried for four days.

Yet for some Christians who have not followed the instruction book and it’s requirements to, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 NASB)  And for any that fall into that group, one of the last words from our Lord after His resurrection and before returning to the right hand of the Father, was the word to the eleven disciples; “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”  So if we understand that the Scriptures state in John’s gospel chapter 1, and verse 2-3, “He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”  The apostle Paul said this of Jesus, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17) ESV)

But is that the message that Jesus has authority over all things and that includes death, or is there more to the message?  If we return to Matthew 27:19 and 20, all of us who are in Christ are given authority to go out into the world and allow the Holy Spirit speak life into dead people, do you believe this?  Is that not what was taking place as Lazarus came forth bound in dead man’s clothing?  Jesus said to them, and then to us, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  Those words bring back a story that Mitch Kersh shared with a few men at a Tuesday Bible study in Corpus Christ back in the 1970’s.  Now Mitch was a new creation in Christ, he had been a long hair, dope smoking hippie before Jesus invaded his life, and Mitch told everyone he came into contact with about how Jesus could give life to a dead man.  Many of his family members saw what God had done, and they also believed and put their trust in Christ.  One of those was Mitch’s brother-in-law, and yet even after asking Christ into his life he continued to drink too much and smoke a joint every once in a while.  This is Mitch’s story, I wanted to give up on him, and one night while holding my baby, God asked me a question; “Mitch, do you get mad at your baby when it spits up on you or dirties it’s diaper?”  Mitch said that his reply was, “no Lord, it’s just a little baby, doing what babies do, and the Lord said, “and so is your brother-in-law.”  You and I have been given the authority and the command from our Lord to, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  The grave cloths are much like the flesh patterns we bring into our new life in Christ, often God gives us the grace and love to unbind a new Christian from the fleshly patterns of sucking their needs out of others, or of habits that are destructive to themselves or family members.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Is Your Plan better than God's

John 14: 8-11

Do you know someone who is looking for a way to God other than through Jesus Christ; in fact you may be one of those.  More than one person has told me that John 14:6, is too exclusive, and it always goes something like, what about the person in some jungle that has never seen a Bible?  And my answer is; Romans 1:18-20, and the same God who so loved the world that He gave his only Son to take our place, paid our debt by shedding His blood on a cross, so all could have eternal life when they put their faith in Him.  That God is big, real big, and I trust He will reach them with His love story of Jesus. 

I also observed that many who make such claims, have a better plan than God’s.  Their plan is built around living life as they please, and God calls that rebellion, it’s living independently of God’s authority, in fact it is living under your on authority, making your own way to eternal life where you will be separated from God.  But from whom or where did you get such authority, and how much control do you have over this life?  You cannot add one day to your life and the book of James makes that very clear. “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”  (James 4:13-16 ESV)

Now if the above is not clear let me make sure that you understand; I believe Jesus is “Truth” not a truth but the “Truth”.  And if that is true, then “Truth” has spoken in John 14:6-7, Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” 

Now if you’re a Christian, a person who by faith has put their hope and trust for this life and the life to come in what Jesus did some 2000 years ago on a cross, by buying you back out of the grasp of sin, by shedding His blood for your sins, and you are still troubled, so was the apostle Philip. Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” (John 14:8) This was Jesus’ reply to His disciple, and to us: “Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. (John 14:9-11 ESV)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Faith tells you to open the Grave

John 11:36-44

Have you been to Israel?  If not, you should put it on your travel plans, it will be a great trip, at least it was for Jan and I.  It will amaze you when you see what God is doing to and with His people.  The history and the sites will open your eyes to much of the Bible that you read past, and one such item is the number of graves carved in the hillside with stone that has been cut to roll in front of the grave.  I went to Wesley’s notes to get an understanding of these burial sites: (11:38 It was a cave - So Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their wives, except Rachel, were buried in the cave of Machpelah, Gen 49:29 - 31. These caves were commonly in rocks, which abounded in that country, either hollowed by nature or hewn by art.  And the entrance was shut up with a great stone, which sometimes had a monumental inscription.)

So when Jesus came to where Lazarus was buried it was not anything unusual, and we do not know if Lazarus was a man of wealth or a person of great importance in his community, the Bible does not speak to this.  There is no evidence we should believe he was, so Lazarus may have been buried in an old tomb with up to ten other bodies.  Often I forget that our Lord was fully man and yet God and as man He had emotions and the writer is sharing this with us in verse 38, “Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.  Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”  Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”  This is the same Martha that hours ago said I believe you are the Son of God, the Christ, and you wonder what was going on in her mind, did she think Jesus wanted to just see the body? 

Can you identify with Martha, often when God says to us in our experiences, “Take away the stone” we act as if we forgot who is speaking, and we call this using our common-sense, when the only thing that will please God is faith.  Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell that if you believed you would see the glory of God?  “So they took away the stone,” and maybe Martha and Mary help, but more than likely it was the curious who came with them to the grave, they move the stone.  Was their action an act of faith, probably not, they may have heard about how Jesus made the blind man see, we do not know, but more than likely they were just curious.

John reports that Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. (Note: Jesus always went to the Father, it was the Father through the Son doing the miracles) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, (Note: the curious and people like me will read this account) that they may believe that you sent me.”  When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.”  As you read this account you may be in the curious group, and common sense tells you the same thing it told Martha, Lazarus body is decaying, but faith tells you to open the grave and be part of God’s amazing grace, it’s your choice!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The desire to share good news with others

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John 11:28-37

One of the many observations of living for over sixty years on planet earth is that you and I have in our DNA the desire to share good news with others we care about.  It matters not the importance of the happening, it could be a new car, new house, a new job, or something of greater importance, like marriage, a new baby, or of eternal importance, like your profession of faith in Christ.  Martha, had just said to Jesus, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world” and her very next action is to go tell her sister Mary, the teacher is asking for you.

Now, it is of importance to recall that this is not a happy time, their brother had just died and they had been praying and hoping for a miracle, but the miracle had not happen and the brother has been in the tomb for four days.  So Martha comes back from her visit with Jesus and asked to have a word with her sister in private, and she said, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”  It is reported in John 11 that Mary rose quickly and went to Jesus, but she did not go alone, many who were consoling her saw her go out and thought she was going to the tomb, so they tagged along.

It is important to understand that these sisters loved Jesus but Mary was the one that put everything aside to sit at his feet when He was teaching, Martha chose not to because there was a lot of things that needed to happen before they could eat.  Mary sees Jesus and falls at his feet saying to Him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  It is so important to understand that she is speaking from her heart; she is not doing the blame game, she’s speaking truth.  But there is always the crowd, those who came with her, and they said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”  

It is important to understand the crowd, they are the large portion of those who claim they are Christian, many show-up for church each Sunday, but they have not fallen at the feet of Jesus, they are at best observers, they want to see more proof, and then they will do as Martha and Mary, then they will trust Him, then they will bet the farm that He is the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world to save sinners!  Then they will agree that they are sinners in need of His services!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The most important decision

John 11:17-27

Do you recall what Jesus said when told that Lazarus was very ill, these are His words,  “This illness does not lead to death, but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”   Now picking up the story in verse 17, and when Jesus and his disciples come to Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, they find that Lazarus has been in the tomb four days.  Now some may wonder, as did Martha and her sister Mary, why did Jesus not come earlier, yes even at this point His own disciples may be wondering why did we sit around and watch the sand blow, why did He not come and save His friend?   Jesus had already told His disciples the truth, but truth was not in keeping with their experiences, so they made an assumption based on experiences.

Listen to Martha’s remarks to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (Verse 21)  Now that may sound like she is angry with Jesus but that is not it at all; Martha is just stating her belief system, and verse 22 makes this very clear: “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”  What faith, and the question came into my mind, do I have that kind of faith?  That’s a great question to ponder on; but is your faith in Jesus in keeping with Martha’s faith?

We know that Martha has been exposed to Jesus, he has been in their home, they have seen the miracles Jesus has performed and she has not lost hope that even after four days in a tomb, Jesus can ask His Father and Lazarus will come back to life, or does she believe?  I believe the answer is yes, and no, yes she believes Jesus can do it, but then the no comes into play, but will He?  So Jesus tells her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?”  The answer to that question is for all people, and the answer has to do with, will you be born twice and die only once?  Yes, born into Christ, given a living spirit, and live eternally with Christ.  Listen to Martha’s reply, “She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Now it is your turn, Jesus is saying to all people, and especially at this moment to you, “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?”  Your answer is the most important decision that you will ever make!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Now that Commitment

John 11:7-16

“Let us go to Judea again.”

Has your business placed you in harms way?  I do not believe I was ever in danger, but my trip to the Middle East was way out of my comfort zone.  I recall getting off the plane in Saudi and they were not friendly at the airport, in fact they were rude and hostile to a person who was coming to be a help to some of their citizens.  As we flew to other countries in the Middle East, some were more friendly and one much worse, but my Division of 3M Company had sent me to be of help to our Subsidiaries in that part of the world; I was on assignment.  When Jesus told His disciples “Let us go to Judea again.” He also was on assignment; He was about His Father’s business.

My trip to the Middle East was well planned and I was meeting a man who I had worked with who was a Citizen of that area, and we had the same goal, to grow our brand and to acquire the business of some very large projects.  But Jesus had just come from Judea, it had been somewhat of a dangerous trip, and so we should not be surprised at the response from His disciples.  “The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”  (John 11:8)  It is important to see that Jesus’ followers were not open to a return trip to Judea.  In fact, it had become clear that they might opt out of this gig, why would Jesus want to return to an area where they were trying to kill Him?   And the answer is simple, John 3:16-18, God loves you so much that He put together a business plan for His Son that had your best as it’s goal.

When Jesus answered His disciple’s fears, it was not what they were looking for; this is the answer, “Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world.  But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.”  (John 11:9-10)  Do you recall the encounter with the woman caught in adultery, I’m sure the disciples that were with Jesus will never forget that day, and Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Did they recall those words at this time, I am not sure but it looks as if they did not, and guess what, most of the time we, like them, let fear keep us from hearing and acting on those words.

So in the next sentence Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”  (John 11:11)  But they once more missed what Jesus was saying so he spoke plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.  But let us go to him.”  (John 11:14-15)  Thomas, who many look down on as a doubter, was the one who set aside his fear and said, “Let us go, that we may die with him.” (John 11:16)  Now my dear reader that is commitment!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Is Jesus your Best Friend

John 11:1-6

Lazarus has died and Lazarus is not only a friend of Jesus, but Jesus cares very deeply for his family.  Now Lazarus has two sisters, one is Martha and the other may be better known for the kindness of anointing the Lord with ointment and wiping His feet with her hair.  As often happens in Scripture, we find the account told later in John 12:3.  Can you imagine having a better friend than Jesus?  Before answering too quickly it may be wise to give you more information on what happened when Jesus was told His friend Lazarus was very sick.  In chapter 11 and verse 3-6,  “So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”  But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.”  I do not believe it is wrong to ask this question, was what Jesus was doing so important to ignore His friend’s needs?  And you may be surprised at the answer.

Our first clue is found in Luke’s gospel chapter 2:41-49, and it is the account of Jesus staying behind at the temple as a 12 year old with the teachers listening to him and asking questions.  Now mom was not happy with him at that moment, and said, “Son, why have you treated us so?  Behold your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”  And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”  Jesus was very clear that His Father had a plan for Him and He must be implementing that plan.  But guess what, Mary and Joseph did not get it, anymore than did Jesus’ disciples some years later.  We are not that much different than them, we are also ignorant of what Jesus is about, acting out His Father’s plan in our lives.  Often we look pass this truth; Jesus did all His miracles as a man.  Not once did He act as God while walking among us.  Pastor Bill Johnson writes: "Jesus could not heal the sick. Neither could He deliver the tormented from demons or raise the dead. To believe otherwise is to ignore what Jesus said about Himself, and more importantly, to miss the purpose of His self-imposed restriction to live as a man. Jesus said of Himself: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does (John 5:19-20)."

So when Jesus the God man spoke these words, they were the insights given by the Holy Spirit to Jesus and were totally misunderstood by his disciples; “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”  Faith is defined in this way, acting like Jesus tells the truth, and Jesus said this about you and me; “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”  (John 14:12)

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

It always comes down to a Choice

John 10:22-

It is the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, it is winter time and that means it may get colder around the Jerusalem and Ramat Hagolan mountains to a level of (34 Degrees Fahrenheit) but most of the time it is 41 to 65 degrees. The feast of the dedication – “This was a feast instituted by Judas Maccabeus, in commemoration of his purifying the temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. This feast began on the twenty-fifth of the month Cisleu, (which answers to the eighteenth of our December), and continued for eight days.” (Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible)

Jesus is walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon, and the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who gave them to me, is greater that all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.  I and the Father are one.”  The Jews picked up stones again to stone him.  Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?”  The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” (John 10:24-33)

Many of us can identify with the crowd that gathered around Jesus on that winter day, we want an answer, and when confronted with truth in such a way that it cannot be misunderstood, we “pick-up stones” and why, because our deeds are evil in the sight of a Holy God, and to acknowledge that requires an action on our part, submission or rejection. 

It is important for you to understand that Jesus is not going to make that choice easy for you anymore than He did to those who gathered around him on that winter day in the colonnade of Solomon.  This was His reply to them; “Do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’?  If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”  (John 10:36-38)  Now they were going to arrest God; that is as dumb as those who are trying to remove God from our Government, schools, and the heart of our people.  But Jesus walked away and went to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and many came to him and believed in Him.  Now it may be your turn, you read the words that Jesus spoke, will you submit or reject Jesus?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Now that is Big!

John 10:17-18

This writer in referring to God often uses the word big, but does that do justice to our Creator?  If we define “big” it means of great size, of great power, significant or important and powerful to somebody.  I’m not sure that big is big enough to describe God!  But often in the church and among those who go by the name Christian, I find people who do not believe that God is big, in fact they say things to make one believe he is much like them.

One of the areas in which this is so clear is the authenticity of God’s written word; is it inerrant, or does it have errors?  Now you must forgive this writer for what I’m going to say, but if God who spoke the world into being is not able to keep His written word pure and true, why would anyone place their eternal hope in such a small God?   The prophet Samuel had this to say about God and His word, “This God – his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” (2 Samuel 22:31)  It is a very foolish person who tries to make little of the written word, because it was from the beginning, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  (John 1:1)  But lets not stop, John has more to say about the word in verse 14, “And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”  In the book of Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”   And last a word from Jesus, the one whom you say you believe in, listen to Him, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)

And last, but of great importance are those who blame the Jews for Jesus’ death, or the Romans, but you are so wrong in doing so, see Jesus is bigger than big, He is Creator God.  “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”  (Colossians 1:15-17) And a final word from Jesus, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.  This charge I have received from my Father.”  (John 10:17-18) Now that is big!

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

We are of the Same Flock

John 10:15-18

When reading the Scriptures, does it bring up questions in your mind on what you have thought to be true, or what your church or some teacher has taught and you took it as the gospel?  What you do at that moment is of the utmost importance; going to someone who has the answer to your question is the right thing, but who is that person?  Jesus told us the following; “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” (John 14:16-17)  And there in lies a gigantic problem, we act as if He does not live inside of us and we run to someone else, now that someone may be a commentary, a pastor or teacher, all who or interpreting the Scriptures, but the Spirit of truth is always your first choice, He is the author of the book.  The apostle John goes further to explain who has the answer to your question; “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26)  Have you experienced the Spirit of truth, I have and He is always my first choice, when it comes to questions on living life on planet earth.

So have you considered what Jesus is telling His disciples in John 10:16, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold.  I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.  So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  Who are those sheep that Jesus is referring to as not of this fold?  I am sure that it was also a question the disciples wondered about, but the Spirit of truth began to answer it for them.  Jesus after the resurrection came to Thomas and showed Himself and Thomas said, “My Lord and my God.”  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me?  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  (John 20:28-29)  Do you understand that at that moment Jesus had you in His mind!  Often God seems to break the rules in order to move us earth critters out of our comfort zone of rules and traditions, and God did that with Peter to show him that the Gentiles were to be part of God’s plan, yes God so loved Gentiles that He gave Peter the big picture of His will, found in Acts chapter ten.  

In the last sentence of John 10:16, Jesus says, “ So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  How did we get all of these denominations?  Is that being one flock, and is that having one shepherd?  Take out the labels, and look at the substance, all the denominations that teach, One God, in three forms, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and teach that all mankind are sinners, and that God sent His only Son, Jesus, to show up on planet earth in the form of a baby, whose mother was a virgin named Mary, and this Jesus lived among us for a while and died for our sins on a cross, and now lives in us by His Spirit and is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.  That salvation is a free gift to all who will accept it by faith, and it is mankind’s choice that keeps them from a having a personal relationship with Jesus and the Father.  Those are of one flock, all others are like the thief that tries to come in some other door.  Yes we do things different, our traditions and our order of worship are not the same, but if we have the above in agreement, we are of the same flock, with Jesus as our Chief Shepherd.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

The Promise Still Stands

Hebrews 4:1

When reading a verse like the one above it brings distress to my heart, not for myself, but for the many who did what I did, joined a church but did not enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  Jesus being God knew all things, and from the beginning he knew that man wanted to be in control, that he wanted a god that was like him, or one that he made.  Jesus also knows that mankind is willing to be very religious and the more his religion requires the better he performs.  Jesus knew that to ask a person to deny self and by faith to trust in His atonement, His finished work on the cross, the victory over sin was going to be a stumbling block for many.  It was for me for 27 years, I believed in my head, but was fearful of entering into His rest, it came down to this, I was not sure Jesus loved me and I had many reasons to believe that no one who knew me could really love me.

Hebrews 4:1, “Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it.”  Most of my life on this planet, I’ve been admonished not to fear.  Fear is the opposite of faith, but both the Old and New Testaments have one theme in common, fear God.  What does that mean?  Is God not our Father, has He not spoken of loving us so much that He allowed His only Son to die in our place, and without question the answer is yes, that is the gospel.  I find myself coming back to, He is Creator God and I am created, His ways are not my ways, and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts.  I am the only creation that was made in His likeness, you and I have this in common with God; we were given the ability to reason.

 My prayer for all of us who struggle is found in Psalm 86:11, “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.”  And when we have learned to apply this verse to our life, it will not mean we are free from trials and troubles, but we will learn to believe, trust, and wait on our loving Father.  As I ponder on these thoughts, I found myself in the book of Micah chapter 7 and verse 7, “But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.”  Remember that God has given you the ability to reason, in that way you are in His likeness, and it is of eternal importance, what is the object of your faith?  There is one truth, one God and one baptism, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

God's Promise of Hope & Change

Hebrews 3:16-19

A promise is a promise, especially when it comes from our Creator, and it was first given to Abraham in Geneses 12:7, a promised land, the land of Canaan.  And we understand that the chosen people were enslaved in Egypt and God used a man named Moses to lead them to the land of promise.  But many who had been chosen, never entered that land, verse 19 gives this insight: “So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief.” 

Often, when we read over the cost of their unbelief, our minds do not go to what an unbelieving heart cost others.  It cost their children 40 years in a wilderness going to funerals, watching their older brothers and sisters, their mothers and dads, and even grandparents die and be buried.  The promise was theirs, but most did not believe the promise, they had misplaced faith in a man, Moses, and when things got hard they rebelled.  Rebellion will always come when the people lose faith in the object of their hope, and these people, the ones who followed Moses had focused their hope in Moses, and not in the God who parted the Red Sea.

Are you in a wilderness of unbelief?  Have you misplaced your faith in a church or preacher?  Who is the object of your faith?  Do you have any understanding of what has been promised to you, and I’m not talking in the hereafter. You and I have a responsibility to “act like Jesus tells the truth” that is faith, and it is faith that others who are watching will desire.  This world system is built on self, greed, and putting your trust in governments, Corporations, money, or anything but the promises of Jesus Christ.  So unless we act on those promises, unless we teach them at home, and unless our children and grandchildren see the object of our faith, will they not also wander in the wilderness of unbelief?

Many of us often go to church, we attend Bible studies, but we seem to fall short, we still live life on our terms.  If you are on that road, and you are sick of self, sick of always coming up short, it is time to grit your teeth and ask God to guide you to “How.”  Psalm 119:9-11 gives us this, “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your word.  With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!  I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”  What you and I store up and treasure in our hearts is what we will draw from in time of need, in times of catastrophe; so store His word, know and put to memory His promises; then when you hear His voice you will know how to answer and how to conduct your life.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

My blog; http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

A world void of Leaders

John 10:11-14

In our society we have become so immersed in technology, into progressive thinking, and diversity; the being sensitive to the feelings of others, and in doing so our society has forgotten to teach leadership.  In this progressive culture with all winners and no losers, it does not foster nor does it encourage the development of leaders!  So what are some basic points we should require in our leaders?  And when speaking of leaders, I mean people in authority over others, beginning with mothers and dads, teachers and adults who are responsible for a child’s physical and spiritual growth.  It would also apply to pastors, police, and politicians, and in business, anyone who holds the office of boss, and that means CEO’s and board of directors.

First and foremost is honesty, and that should be expected from mom and dad to all those listed above.  Honesty is the characteristic of being faithful, just, truthful, and morally upright.  Second, integrity would go hand in hand with honesty, and it is the quality of adhering to higher moral principles.  What does that person look like in the home, at school, in church, in business, in government; they lead with those characteristics, and they are disciplined and responsible with the resources placed in their trust, whether that be money or people, and they make decisions based on what is the best use of the resources for those placed under them.  Many times that may not be popular with those under their authority, but they will follow a leader who places their best above what may not be in the leaders liking.  So how does John 10:11-16, tie into this discussion?

If you read chapter 53 in the Psalms, you will be amazed at this prophet, he is on the spot, on target, and it is hundreds of years before the birth of Christ.  In verses 3-4, “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.  Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.”  Did I say that a leader might not be liked, that they may be misunderstood, but as in the case of Jesus, the good shepherd, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)  Now we who by faith have Christ living in us should model the good shepherd, but many of us do not reflect the characteristics of Jesus.  That is the contrast of verse 11 and verse 12, one values people and the other is just a hired hand.  Jesus has this to say about the hired hand, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.” (John 10:12)

It matters not if the person is a mom or dad, a pastor, or any of the others listed above, if they have the attitude of a hired hand, you are in a lot of trouble, because a leader with that attitude is not a person of honesty or integrity.  One of the latest examples is Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Concordia, who abandoned ship while those who had put their trust in him were drowning.  Verse 13, gives a clear picture of the captain, “He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” 

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

Does Jesus grade on a curve?

John 10:7-10

 Many have made jokes about “I hope God grades on a curve,” in fact, that thought fits well in our culture.  We are a society that compares our actions to others and believes that our actions only have to exceed our neighbors to set us in good standing with God.  In fact, this is a line that is often stated, “I’m much better that my neighbor who is always at church.”  I believe we would be wise to explore this thought-process in light of John 10, where Jesus says that He is the good Shepherd, and that many of us will try to enter the sheepfold door by some other way other than Him.

I’ve wondered, why would we do such a thing, is receiving the free gift of grace by faith that distasteful?  I do believe that it is for many because it requires one to come into an agreement with God that they are sinful and God is Holy.  The Nobel Prize winning author, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, describes the universal reality of evil when he writes: “Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart . . .And even in the best of all hearts, there remains . . . an un-uprooted small corner of evil.” (The Gulag Arc hipelago, Vol. 2, p.597)  That is why Christ took on human form and came as our substitute, because God required a blood payment for sin, and Jesus became that payment.  If you’re in doubt of God’s requirement go to Hebrews 9:22, “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”

Could a God, who says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep”, insult our progressive society?  And goes on to state,  “All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.  I am the door.  If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”  You must ask the question, why is this offensive to our enlightened culture, and it may be that Jesus has called all other ways to God as foolish and powerless to attain a personal relationship with the Father.  But Jesus goes further, not only does He promise eternal life but life in the full right now!

If we go to the next verse, John 10:10, we find that the enemy of our soul is referred to as the thief that comes only to steal and kill and destroy, but Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”  It is your choice, blessing or curses, life or death, and it is not a new choice; we find in Joshua 24:14-15, that the people coming out of Egypt had to choose, the gods of the world, or the Lord God.  And for me, like for Joshua, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice

http://fromourbackporch.blogspot.com/

Personal

Peace

How important is peace to you personally?   Now that is worth pondering on, and this morning sometime around four, I awoke to a mind that was not at peace, and I had thoughts flooding my mind that were the opposite of love and had their roots in anger and hate.  I laid in that bed for thirty minutes wanting only to turn off those thoughts and go back to sleep, but I lost that battle, and got up realizing that a spiritual battle was being waged to steal my joy, my peace. 

I’m sharing this personal struggle with you because I believe many of you may also be under this same attack.  My first thought was not to wake Jan and so I went into the living area and began to tell the Father that I understood that His ways are not my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and that my deepest desire was to find rest in Him.  As I prayed and looked in the Scriptures, I found a priestly blessing that the Lord spoke to Moses, Tell Aaron and his sons how you are to bless the Israelites.  “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 ESV),

What a great prayer, and is that not what each of us needs, to have the Lord’s face to shine upon us and be gracious to us.  But to us whose hope is in Christ, we have this blessing found in 2 Corinthians 13:11-14, “Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you.  The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

           

I often look to the writings of Oswald Chambers “My Utmost for His Highest” and this morning thoughts were taken from Romans 8:28, this is how Chambers began; “The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God.  In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance.  God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you cannot understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands.”  Now that’s good stuff, but look to Jesus, for He has said the following: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” (John 14:27 ESV)

This morning the enemy of my soul, the one Jesus calls a thief, came to steal my Joy, and my peace, it was a real battle, but God, how I love that phrase; “But God” for it was to Him I ran and said Father, and He took me in His loving arms and restored my peace.  I was reminded that nation after nation has come up with a wiser plan and each time God has allowed them to go that way, and He laughs at them, and most never return to greatness, for they placed their hope and trust in themselves, and not in the God who gives them His power.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice